Securing a Sustainable Future for Electricity - Essay Example

Securing a Sustainable Future for Electricity Name: Institution: Background The existing electricity supply primarily relies on fossil fuels during production and the other significant portion originates from nuclear energy both of which are raw materials that countries cannot sustain into the future (Burge, Lünenbürger, & Osiek, 2012). Globally, the use of unsustainable means of electricity generation results in 26% of the greenhouse emissions, and so this is one agent contributing immensely to unpredictable climate changes. In addition, the social costs associated with unsustainable means of generating electricity are high with examples being the rising sea levels, persistent droughts, typhoons, and flash floods that come about because the world is experiencing unrestrained climate change. Nuclear as a source of energy appeared to take care of most of the downfalls of fossil fuels, but its disasters are a significant risk to the economy. An example is the Fukushima meltdown of 2011, and the Chernobyl one of 1986 resulted in massive social costs as countries struggled to normalize the effects of the accidents. Burge et al. (2012) argue that if all stakeholders could expand renewable sources of energy, it will pay off to do away with the environment risks and all external costs associated with the extraction of fossil fuels and damages from the climate changes. Over the years, manufacturers have come with better renewable energy generating equipment that cost far less compared to the earlier models. Going by the current trends, there is a likelihood that costs for electricity generation from renewable sources will continue to decline as the resource prices for fossil fuels and also the extraction of uranium for nuclear rises (Canadian Energy Research Institute, 2005). Therefore, it shall be cheaper to produce electricity from renewable sources and the social costs will also decline if efforts shall be focussed on containing the effects of non-renewable energy sources. The primary stakeholders who will make it possible to utilize renewable sources of electricity generation are governments given that they have the responsibility of availing sources of energy to their countries. Therefore, once they embrace renewable sources, their citizens will enjoy the benefits of this source of energy and the countries will avoid the social costs of the non-renewable sources of electricity generation. The other significant stakeholders are the manufacturers of equipment used in generating electricity. Currently, the equipment for non-renewable sources is cheaper compared to those for renewable sources. Therefore, there is a need for these parties to conduct more research and manufacture cheaper and more efficient equipment for the renewable energy generation. Availing this equipment will be an incentive for the government to embrace the renewable sources of energy. The various development partners and financing institutions are other key players that can actualize the transformation to renewable sources of energy. These organizations should insist on funding towards the installation of equipment for generating renewable power sources alone especially in the third world. The electricity users also have a role to play through the purchasing of energy saving equipment that will reduce consumption and emit fewer greenhouse gasses. Based on the information above, sustainability refers to those measures the different stakeholders will put in place to generate electricity using renewable sources of energy and consume it in a manner likely to reduce wastage and by that allow all users to enjoy the benefits of the power. Key Sustainability Issues Natural Barriers This is an environmental sustainability challenge that comes in the form of lack of resources to develop renewable electricity. The majority of renewable power comes from water driven turbines (Pegels, 2010). Therefore, countries located in places with low rainfall experience limitations when trying to exploit water as a source of energy. If the country happens to have wind that is not blowing strong enough, then it will not utilize this resource as well. Eventually, these factors will compel the countries to rely on non-renewable sources like fossil fuels and the disastrous nuclear energy. The response to this issue is that the countries should consider purchasing electricity from areas where it is in surplus as opposed to relying on the non-renewable forms of generation. Also, the country should exploit the few resources available for renewable sources like putting up small hydro plants and embracing solar power. Economic barriers: financial The main economic and financial barriers include accessing capital to establish renewable sources of energy projects. Most entities limit their financing on this venture given that there is a low predictability and also uncertainty regarding when the company will have a return on the capital invested (Painuly, 2001). In addition, the unpredictable weather among other factors could result in the projects performing below the expected levels of output. This issue of inadequate financial support to the potential investors in the sector has been the reason there is less incentive towards the deployment of large scale renewable sources of electricity generation. The response to this challenge is encouraging many stakeholders to come together and support a few sustainable projects. When many financiers support the initiatives, their cost of interest on loans will be small, and they will manage to do large scale feasibility studies to identify better ways of making the projects sustainable and so recoup their capital in a much shorter period. Economic barriers: infrastructure Kwoka and Kamen (2007) argue that starting an electricity generating company will require a lot of capital to lay the ground for the physical infrastructure. The investment here could include building an artificial dam to harvest water for turning the turbines even when the rains are less. The initial cost shall include the prospecting done to identify a publicly acceptable place that has access to normal infrustructure and the main electricity distribution lines, and also other communication channels. Besides, it will take time to conduct good investigations regarding the sustainability of initiating renewable energy in specific sites. A case in point is when identifying potential wind sites; it could take years to monitor the reliability of the project. The permitting issues like the current energy technologies are understood, but studies are needed regarding new capacities to find their impact on the ecosystem. The response to this matter is taking time to explore good sites for putting up the renewable sources technologies and then liaising with other partners to avail supporting infrastructure. It will be rewarding to have the project in an area where it will give the highest power output to the country rather than choosing an area with good roads but without much potential. Also, I will advocate for thorough visibility studies to identify suitable areas with the best output rather than starting a project based on incomplete studies only to find it not viable and a lot of resources will go to waste. Maintenance barriers The cost of maintaining these renewable electricity generation technologies is high given that they have many moving parts (Joskow, 2006). The different stakeholders, therefore, will have to put aside a huge chunk of money to assess their performance and decide which parts need replacement before they become less efficient. Moreover, importing technicians to undertake the maintenance and repairs could be expensive to these countries. The response to this factor is that states should consider having their countrymen trained how to maintain these technologies. The local people will earn slightly less compared to expatriates, and they will be employed on permanent basis hence they could become a resource over time. Regarding purchasing maintenance parts, the countries should enter into long-term equipment purchase or lease agreements with manufacturers to avail the required technologies at a subsidized rate. This will be an incentive to the different countries to install the renewable technologies to a great scale. Institutional and regulatory barriers Many government agencies and authorities regulate the production and distribution of electricity (Joskow, 2006). For instance, the land management body has to license the establishment of a dam in a particular area, and the government must allow the importation of machinery used in initiating operations. Therefore, adhering to all these requirements can be a tedious and expensive venture that could quickly turn off potential foreign investors. The other challenge is that the regulatory procedures from the different departments might not be coordinated leading to a case where an investor avails the same information to the various agencies leading to delays and escalating costs. The response to this issue is that the government should have all the different agencies regulating the entire process of renewable sources of energy working as one unit. This means that the investor should approach one department or agency and make an application and the process should progress from one agency to the other until it is complete. This way, the registration will move faster, and the investor will not have to use intermediaries to approach the different licensing agencies. Social barriers A big challenge with establishing the renewable technologies is rejection by the local government and the local communities after the project is built (Kwoka, 2002). The rejection may arise from some form of misunderstanding and like climate change occasioned by creating a dam in an area. Once the rejection comes about, a lot of money will go to waste, and the financiers may incur losses or take much longer to recoup their capital. The response to this issue is that the stakeholders should take time to educate the local people the possible challenges that might arise due to the installation of the new technology. In addition, the new project should offer any available job opportunities and also support local community initiatives as a way of increasing chances of people supporting the technology until they get accustomed to it. Moreover, the stakeholders should try and engage the government entirely and make it one of the stakeholders. Also, a thorough visibility study could help identify expected challenges and possible benefits before resources are put into use. Conclusion Sustainability is an exercise that all stakeholders should embrace and adopt in stages as it holds the key to a better environment. Currently, there are many ways of generating electricity but majority rely on non-renewable sources that are a hazard to the environment, and they leave gaping holes when the minerals are extracted from the ground. However, adopting renewable sources might appear expensive when making the initial investment but will end up being cheaper to maintain and sustain in the long term. The entire process requires a careful analysis of the environment to choose ideal sites with maximum potential and incorporating many stakeholders including the local government and communities to avoid rejection. Also, it is advisable to look for many financiers and stakeholders so that they could easily share the establishment costs and this shall lead to many sustainable and successful ventures. References Burge, A., Lünenbürger, B., & Osiek, D. (2012). Sustainable Electricity for the Future. German Federal Environment Agency, 1-6. Canadian Energy Research Institute. (2005). Electricity Generation Technologies: Performance and Cost Characteristics. Canadian Energy Research Institute, 1-5. Joskow, P. (2006). Competitive Electricity Markets and Investment in New Generating Capacity. MIT, 5-9. Kwoka, J. (2002). Vertical Economies in Electric Power: Evidence on Integration and Its Alternatives,” International Journal of Industrial Organization, 6-12. Kwoka, J., & Kamen, M. (2007). Making Markets Work: The Special Case of Electricity, Electricity Journal, 2-6. Painuly, J.P. (2001). Barriers to renewable energy penetration; a framework for analysis. Renewable Energy, 24, 73-89. Pegels, A. (2010). Renewable energy in South Africa: potentials, barriers and options for support. Energy Policy, 38(9), 4945-4954. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.enpol.2010.03.077 Read More